Apparatus for and method of loading fusible explosive materials into shell casings and the like



March 12, 1957 A. DIELS ET AL 2,784,638

APPARATUS FOR AND METHOD OF LOADING FUSIBLE EXPLOSIVE MATERIALS INTO SHELL CASINGS AND THE LIKE Filed March 18, 1953 INVENTORS ALBER T DIEL 5 y HERA/MAW OR TH Afio r h c 3 United States Patent 4 Claims. (c1. s6-2o This invention relates to an apparatus forand a method of loading fusible explosivefmate'rials into shell casings and the like.

It is a well known problem in the loading of shell casings and the like with explosive material to produce charges of. maximum density in order to obtain maximum detonating effectiveness. Heretofore, shell casingswere loaded with explosive material by depositing said material in the shell in a heated fluid, semi-fluid or pasty state. The charge, however, solidified quickly when striking the cool easing Wall. Therefore, it had to be broken down by a tamping operation in order to eliminate shrinkage holes. and cavities in the solidified charge and to completely fill the shell casing. The shell casing was usually not filled at once, but in successivecharges which, on accountof their fied explosive material into the casing and to cool the.

molten materialsoas to solidify the charge.

.All these known methods of and apparatus for filling explosive material into shell casings and the like have a number of disadvantages. Cooling molten material in the shell casing had to be effected very slowly and required a considerable period of time so as:to ayoid formati'o'nof shrinkage holes or cavities in the solidified explo sive and to provide a charge of uniform density through out the entire filling. y t i Pressingpulverulent explosives in shell casings, on the other hand, required cor'nplicated pressing devices and high pressure. The application of such high pressure is necessary in orde'rft'o produce uniformly dense charges.

After each filling operation High pressure application in explosives, however, is not 7 without danger. Y t

, Introducing the explosive material into a shell casing in the fluid, semi-fluid, or pasty state and breaking down the solidified eharge by' tanip'ing, did notalways give a filling 'of satisfactory densit even if the explosive material was Ice Other objects and advantageous features of this invention will become apparent as the description proceeds.

The method according to this invention consists, in principle, in depositing the liquefied explosive material in successive layers in the casing and firmly pressing each layer with a suitably shaped stamp or presser foot. In this manner the individual layers are immediately cooled and V a high density of the charge is ensured.

The stamp or presser foot is cooled during pressing operation. Such cooling is of utmost importance in the method according to this invention. 'When using a stamp or presser foot which is not cooled, only a superficial layer of the fluid explosive material will solidify, namely that part of the material whichcomes directly in contact with the stamp or presser foot; themain part of saidmaterial will remain plastic and will solidify only at a slow rate. A considerableperiod of time will be required to effect complete solidification and even then the charge will not have the desired maximum density.

The new method is useful in loading shell casings with any conventional types of explosives, such as trinitrotoluene, mixtures of trinitrotoluene and ammonium nitrate, and others. This method permits filling shell casings of the smallest as well as of the largest caliber without, any difiiculty. The new mode of operation has the further advantage that the timerequired for filling shellcasings with explosive material is redueed to a rni'nimurh; Furthermore, the new method does not require high pressure b'u't op'erates satisfactorily with relatively low pressure. l-for instance, when pressing explosive material filled into she'll casings of 5 cm. caliber, astarnp or presser foot is,

used having a diameter of 3.,5 cm. and which issirbjeeted to a pressure of between 20 kg./sq. cm. and kg./s'q.; ei h'.

It is understood, of course, that with otherc'alibers ofthe shell casing' other diameters of the stamp or presser foot" and also other pressures are to be employed, 7, v I

The stamp or presser foot must not be cooled too low;

Cooling with Water of 20 C. to 30 C. has proven to yield excellent results with ti'initrotoluene. Cooling teni perature and pressure-are to a large extent-dependent" upon the properties of the explosive material to be loaded. The cooled stamp or presser foot exerts its compressing effect with only one downward stroke and thereby, causes 1 thorough cooling and solidifying of the. fluid explosive I required when working according to the known'processes.

Furthermore, a heretofore unattainable density and uniformity of the charge is achieved without any danger that shrinkage holes or cavities are formed in the charge.

Since the general construction and many of the details in an apparatus of this'general type for loading explosives into shell casings are well known and are familiarto those skilled'in the art, and sincesuch apparatus are large and elaborate structures, it ;is only necessary for an understanding of this invention toillustrate and describe so much of such apparatus as wil-ldisclose the present invention. It will be understood that in this disclosure many details of construction, such as supports and mountings of the various shafts, gearing, specific means ofadjustment, driving elements etc. are omittedas unnecessary and as interfering with a consideratien of the'enibodime nt of the invention and will be readily supplied by those skilled in this art.

Fig. l of the drawings illustrates diagrammatically a vertical cross-section through a shell easing and the pre'ss ing stamp or presser foot.

Fig. 2 illustrates diagrammatically the sequence of operations when continuously loading shell casings and the stamp or presser foot 3. Various layers 2 of molten explosive material have been poured into said shell 1 and have been compressed and solidified by the pressing action of stamp 3. The uppermost layer 12 is still in the liquid state but will be compressed and cooled to solidify by stamp 3. Said stamp 3 carries at its lower end head 4 which fits the shell and has a diameter slightly less than the inner diameter of said shell 1. As stated above, the diameter of stamp 3 and the pressure applied to said stamp as well as the temperature of the cooling medium passing through said stamp 3 are dependent upon the kind and the properties of the explosive material to be loaded. The lower part of said stamp head 4 is of conical shape, the cross-section of said cone, as is evident from the drawing, perferably forming an obtuse angle. Stamp 3 is provided with central bore 5 through which cooling liquid, preferably water, circulates. Said cooling liquid is supplied by inlet pipe 6 and is discharged through outlet pipe 7. Stamp 3 is attached to holding means 8 by means of fastening elements 9 and 10, for instance, by means of nuts which are screwed on threaded part 11 of said stamp 3.

Fig. 2 illustrates continuous filling of shells and the like with explosive material. Shell casings 1 are continuously placed upon continuous belt 13 of suitable construction. Positions I and III indicate shell casings 1 in pressing position and positions II and IV in filling position. Stamp 3 provided with heads 4, inlets 6, and outlets 7 for cooling means are arranged in the pressing device 9 on holding means 8 which, on downward movement compress and solidify by cooling the molten explosive material poured into shell casing I at the preceding filling station. Movement of stamp 3 may be effected by hydraulic or pneumatic pressure or by any other suitable means. Fig. 2 shows stamp 3 in the position where it enters the shell casing 1. At this moment filling begins at positions II and IV. The explosive material is kept, in molten condition, in tank 14 provided with heating means and is discharged through discharge pipe 16 into shell casing 1. Valve 15 is automatically or manually opened and closed depending upon the position of stamp 3. As soon as stamp 3 has finished compressing and solidifying the molten explosive material filled into casing 1 and is withdrawn thereform, valve 15 is closed, pressing device 9 is removed from casing 1 and the casing is advanced to its next positions where filling and pressing are repeated. In this manner it is possible to continuously fill the explosive material into shell casings and to solidify and compress the same therein so as to cause perfect loading of the shells without formation of shrinkage holes and other irregularities. The number of filling and pressing stations on continuous belt 13 depends, of course, upon the number of layers of explosive material in the shell casings. Continuous belt 13 may be replaced by a rotating table upon which the casings are placed while the pressing and filling devices are arranged stationary thereto so that the casings successively and alternately pass a filling station and a pressing station. achieve in this manner best results with very simple means and without any of the disadvantages and dangers inherent to the known methods of loading shell casings and the like.

Since only low pressure is required in this process, it is also possible to first fill the explosivematerial into thinwalled molds and to subsequently insert the loaded molds into the shell casings.

The term shell casing as used herein and in the claims annexed hereto is, of course, not limited to cas;

It is evident that it is possible to ings for artillery shells but comprises any-kind -ofexplosive projectile, such as aerial bombs, trench mortar bombs, depth charges, torpedo war heads, anti-tank mines, and all other explosive devices comprising a casing which contains an explosive charge.

Of course, the new method is not limited to loading shell casings and the like with explosive material but may advantageously be employed in any case involving the manufacture of molded bodies of homogeneous structure and of high density from pulverulent fusible material. Thereby the formation of shrinkage holes, funnels, and otherirregularities in the solidified material is avoided with certainty. t i

We claim:

1. A device for loading molten explosive'material into shell casings by depositing said molten explosive material in successive layers into said shell casings and firmly compressing and solidifyingeach layer before depositing the subsequent layer, said device comprising a downward and upward movable stamp for compressing each layer, said stamp being provided with a central bore for receiving a cooling agent, said central bore being connected with inlet means for supplying said cooling agent and outlet means for discharging said cooling agent, said stamp being of a diameter slightly less than the diameter of the shell casing to be loaded, means for holding said stamp in position within said casing, and means for applying pressure to said stamp to effect compression of and to solidify said molten explosive material so as to produce a solid charge of uniform density within said casing.

2. In a device for loading molten explosive material into shell casings according to claim 1, wherein the stamp Y is provided with a conically shaped head.

3. A process of loading casings with explosives, which comprises providing a casing of substantial depth, pour-' ing into said casing a relatively shallow molten layer of nitrated explosive material, immediately placing a solid body exerting static pressure on the. upper surface of said molten layer, simultaneously cooling said solid body to cool said upper surface, whereby said layer is compacted while still in a flowable state, air pockets are eliminated and the'layer is quickly solidified, removing said solid body and thereafter pouring on said first layer a second layer of said molten'nitrated explosive, immediately placing said solid body exerting static pressure on the upper surface of said second layer and simultaneously cooling said upper surface of said second layer, and repeating the cycle of pouring, compacting andcooling until said casing is fully loaded. 7

4. A process of loading casings with explosives,'which comprises providing a casing of substantial depth, pouring into said casing a relatively shallow molten layer of nitrated explosive material, immediately placing a solid body exerting static pressure on the upper surface of said molten layer, simultaneously coolingsaid solid body to cool said upper surface by flowing a cooling liquid through said body, whereby said layer is compacted ,while still in a flowable state, air pockets are eliminated and the layer is quickly solidified, removing said solid body and thereafter pouring on said first layer ;a second layer of; said molten nitrated explosive, immediately placing said solid body exerting static pressure on the upper surface of said second layer and simultaneously cooling said upper surface of said second layer, and repeating the 'cyc1 e of pouring, compacting and cooling until said casing is fully loaded.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 7 1,670,689 Olmstead May 22, 192 2,195,429 Shaler Apr. 2, 19.40 2,373,799 Wilson Apr; 17, 1945 

